A stunning blood moon will light up the sky next month, in a spectacular astronomical event.

However, according to some religious leaders the date will also mark the end of the world, as we know it.

It will be the longest lunar eclipse of the century, and it is expected to last for up to two hours, the Mirror reports.

Here is everything you need to know about next month's blood moon.

When is the blood moon?

The blood moon is set to light up the sky next month on July, 27, around 9.22pm.

Also known as a lunar eclipse, the astronomical event occurs when the moon appears darkened as it passes into the Earth's shadow.

The last blood moon appeared in the skies on January 31.

Why is it believed that it will be the end of the world?

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

The blood moon prophecy is an apocalyptic belief promoted by Christian ministers John Hagee and Mark Biltz.

Hagee also wrote about the prediction in his 2013 book, Four Blood Moons: Something Is About To Change.

It states that a tetrad (four consecutive lunar eclipses) supposedly began on April, 4 2014, which was followed by blood moons on October 8, 2014, April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015, with six full moons in between.

Even though the tetrad period has now ended - and the world didn't come to an end - some preachers still believe that a huge event will happen and possibly wipe us out.

The theory also surfaces in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Joel.

It says: "The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

Meanwhile, a similar passage in the Book of Revelations reads: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."

What do astronomers believe?

Scientist think that the blood moon's red tinge is due to the Rayleigh scattering (elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation) of sunlight through the Earth's atmosphere.